Common Things in a Horror Trailer

Question

Generally, most of the best horror movies ask a question. A situation will be created in the trailer which leaves the viewer wanting to know more. A great example of this is the 1979 "Alien" trailer. The camera shows shots from the film after pulling back slowly with the camera ending on a large, alien egg. The egg then cracks emitting an eerie glow and there are many quick cuts. The trailer ends with the subtext "In space, no one can hear you scream." Nothing is clearly established in this trailer other than the fact something horrible is going to come out of that egg. We, the viewers, learn nothing about any of the characters, what the storyline is about, how the egg was found- all we know is that whatever is in the egg will frighten many people. The question the trailer makes us ask is "What is in the egg?"

What happened?

Another well known horror trailer convention is the "What happened to those children?" scenario. There are many well known films who use this for the trailer such as Quarantine, Wolf Creek and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre however one of the most infamous ones is probably The Blair Witch Project. The trailer began with the subtext "In October of 1994, three student film makers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while filming a documentary. A year later their footage was found." Then there is a couple of short takes from the film explaining how they are attempting to find them and then a really short clip of the footage they found. That's it. There is nothing else in the trailer that gives any indication of what else happens in the film. We know something happened to those kids but you have to watch the trailer to find out what.

Blood thirst

One convention of horror trailers is to 'feed' the blood thirst as it may be seen. Depending on the trailer you'll see some knives being plunged, axes being thrown, chainsaws being swung- just plain violence. The whole point in trailers like this is to promise the audience blood. Ever since the days of the cavemen humans have had a thirst for blood, to watch blood being spilled and to make entertainment out of it. In those days the entertainment was watching someone being thumped over the head with a club. Now people prefer to go to the cinema to see someone get hit on the head with an axe.

Evil Dead -

Inspiration For Horror Trailer

Oculus

Insidious

Insidious 2

The Quiet Ones

Sinister

All of these trailers have most the conventions used in horror trailers in them. They don't give much away at the same time as they intrigue the audience into wanting to watch more.

The Oculus trailer explains whats going on in the film- e.g. it talks about how the mirror is responsible for many deaths. This storyline is very interesting and persuades the audience into watching the film and seeing whether its true. It also has a very popular actress, Karen Gillan, in it which means that all the people who like her and her acting will watch the film.

In the Insidious trailer it never gives you a clear image of who/what the bad guy is which makes the audience want to watch it to find out.

Insidious 2 is a sequel to a previous film which means it already has a fan base meaning all the people  who watched the first one will be willing to watch the second one too.

Sinister - Uses incidental music the whole way through the trailer which builds up at the scary moments to frighten the audience more.

I would like to incorporate the explanation of the film in the trailer, never seeing the bad guy fully and the incidental music in my own trailer to make it as good as possible. All of these conventions are used in actual horror film trailers which will help make mine as authentic as possible.

Conventions of Horror Trailers

- Shows the 'best parts' of the film
This helps to attract the viewers into watching the film

- Blood and gore
This appeals to lovers of the chosen genre

- Battle of Good vs Evil
This causes suspense and the audience tends to root for a certain side which means they will watch the whole film in order to see who wins

- Screaming
This makes the audience wonder what is so bad that someone will be that scared of it

- Shows the well known actors/actresses
This will attract more of an audience if the person already has a fan base of people who will watch them in films

- Dark scary atmosphere (Stormy sky etc)
This is to visually cause fear to the audience as a dark atmosphere indicates a dark storyline

- Commonly used Dialogue (Who's there? What do you want?)
People who have already seen good horror films with this dialogue in will be drawn towards the film

- Authority figures (A policeman)
A denotation of Good vs Evil

- Dramatic Camera Angles (low angle)
These tend to show the characters more and allow the audience to understand who is more important and who is more or less powerful than others

- Isolated Location
This means not many people are around and more stuff can happen that if they were in say a crowded neighborhood

- Incidental Music
This is to indicate that a scary moment is coming up- Its a build up to the action

- Voice Overs
These are often used at the beginning to explain the narrative/context of the film. A young childs voice is ofter used as it adds an eerie effect.

- Sting
The sting is often placed at the end of a trailer after the title. It is often the scariest part as it aims to shock the audience and leave an impact persuading the audience to watch the film. Often the music and pace of the trailer slow down right before the sting allowing the audience to relax and calm down which increases the shock at the end. (The Conjuring Trailer)



In my trailer i hope to use quite a few of these conventions. My trailer will show the best parts of the film, the Battle of Good vs Evil, someone screaming, commonly used dialogue, dramatic camera angles, an isolated location, incidental music, a dark scary atmosphere and a Sting. It may also have a voice over.

AS Media Refection

What I did well in.

I think that during my AS year i gained many skills. I researched many different texts in order to gain a good understanding at how my product should be. I will use that in A2 when creating the text I choose to do. I also gained an increased knowledge of how Photoshop works and the best way to do things. I now know many different camera shots and angles which will help me a lot during my media a level.

What skills I need to improve on.

I need to improve on keeping to my schedules and not rushing towards the end.